Mar. 24, 2013
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Ohio State Buckeyes guard Aaron Craft (4) drives to the basket against the Iowa State Cyclones during the third round of the 2013 NCAA tournament at University of Dayton Arena. / Brian Spurlock, USA TODAY Sports

by Nicole Auerbach, USA TODAY Sports

by Nicole Auerbach, USA TODAY Sports

DAYTON, Ohio - Aaron Craft likes to say he hangs his hat on his defense.

It makes sense; he's probably the nation's best perimeter defender, pick-pocketing guards everywhere and averaging six steals a game.

But with Sunday's game tied in its final seconds and a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line, Craft turned to a more unfamiliar part of his arsenal: His three-point jump shot.

The point guard got the ball near mid-court with just over 29 seconds left in the game and began dribbling out the clock. He wasn't thinking about the costly turnovers, those free throws he'd missed late in the game, or the jumper he'd missed on the Buckeyes' previous possession.

No, he saw a mismatch; there was a switch, and Iowa State forward Georges Niang was on him. Craft waved off the team's leading scorer and let the clock tick down to nearly nothing while his teammates cleared out of the way. He faked like he might drive â?? Niang said he "thought for sure he'd try to go by me and draw a foul" â?? but instead Craft pulled up and nailed a three-pointer to put Ohio State up 78-75 with 0.5 seconds left.

Craft held his follow-through for a second but didn't celebrate. His thoughts raced. How much time is left? What are they going to do? Are they going to quick inbounds?

He motioned for his teammates to get back on defense, and minutes later, after an Iowa State desperation shot way off the mark, Craft could smile. He could celebrate yet another Sweet 16 berth, Ohio State's fourth in a row.

"The moment is definitely bigger than me," Craft said. "As a team, we did a great job down the stretch finding a way to hold on. It just happened to be in my hands at the end of the game.

"I knew I had a little bit of space, so I didn't have to rush it too much. Just got a good clean shot off, and it went in."

The play had been drawn up for Deshaun Thomas, Ohio State players said later. Thomas said if he were his younger self, he would have been angry about not getting the ball with the game on the line â?? but not anymore, now that he's matured. Instead, he complimented Craft.

"He just kept his composure," Thomas said. "He never backed down. Some guys on the team, they get beat or miss a couple of layups, they have their head down."

So instead of taking the game-winning shot, he watched.

"I knew it was in," Thomas said, smiling.

Craft said he's not sure how he blocked out his mistakes, many of which were uncharacteristic. He missed the front end of one-and-ones twice. He missed a layup. He turned the ball over. He gave no excuses for his poor play, though his coaches offered an explanation.

"He plays so hard defensively, he got winded toward the end," Ohio State assistant coach Jeff Boals said. "Those free throws were short. We called one of those last timeouts â?¦ to rest him."

With 1:15 left in the game and the Buckeyes down one, Craft drew a charge call, one that wouldn't escape scrutiny after the game. Analysts called it a terrible officiating decision, questioning whether Craft was in the restricted area or not and if Craft simply slid under the Cyclone player instead of establishing position. John Adams, the NCAA coordinator of officials, said afterwards the official did not see Craft's foot over the restricted area line, and the play was not reviewable.

Either way, it negated an Iowa State basket and sent Craft to the other end of the court, down one. He missed the first, but made the second free throw to tie the game, moments before his game-winner.

"He took a great charge," Thomas said. "That's what shows his competitiveness."

Buckeye coaches didn't mind Craft taking over, either. Though it wasn't what they drew up, it was a possibility. Still, Craft had only hit 25 three-pointers this season, and he hadn't made one in more than a week. He hadn't taken one yet in Sunday's game.

"When I saw Aaron, he was looking for what we had talked about," Ohio State coach Thad Matta. "I saw him look back, and he knew the big kid was on him. I saw him get in his rhythm with each dribble. The kid wasn't pushing up. I was perfectly fine with the shot. ... With the time, the situation, we were going into overtime if it didn't go in."

That was the worst-case scenario. Best-case? Craft goes from goat to hero with the flick of a wrist, the kid known for his tenacious defense hits the game-winning three â?? a possibility he never even dreamt about as a little kid playing around in his backyard, pretending the clock was ticking down.